One way to build flexibility into your classroom is through extension menus. Extension menus require upfront work to build, but offer endless options for your gifted students. Make them a part of your classroom culture and you’ll enable students to interact with content in meaningful ways.
All AboutDifferentiating
Complexity And Skill
Differentiate by adjusting a task's complexity to match a student's skill.
Depth and Complexity Icons
These eleven thinking tools will give your students practical ways to think more deeply about a topic.
Differentiate With Classics
Here's a quick way to differentiate for gifted learners, swap out that boring story for a classic. Here are lots of free resources for finding and using classics online.
Differentiation Gone Wrong
Boy do textbooks like to use the word "differentiation," but it's almost like they don't know what it means!
Expert Thinking
How to use "Think Like A…" to differentiate for gifted students.
Inductive Learning
Rather than making them passive listeners, how do we set the stage so students actively uncover information?
Language Arts
Information about how to differentiate within language arts.
Math
How you can differentiate math lessons to reach your gifted learners.
Preassessment
Start The Year With Themes & Generalizations
Generalizations, big ideas, abstractions, universal themes… they are designed to help our gifted students learn. However, what I didn’t realize was that they would help me teach!
Two Key Words To Upgrade Analysis
Some little genius might suggest the environmental impact of creating bricks versus using the easily renewable sticks and straw. Perhaps there is a negative economic effect of using bricks for a house. Now students can evaluate the choice in a whole new light. And all we did was add a couple words to the question.
What Do I Do With My Early Finishers?
Wondering what to do with your early finishers? This is probably the wrong question!
The Shocking Number of Above-Level Students Out There
In a climate where we focus on who’s below-level, how many students are already ready for next year (and beyond)? Research from Johns Hopkins sheds light on the shocking number of above-level kids out there.
Standards Are The Minimum, Not The Maximum
One of the most significant barriers to differentiating for gifted learners is a misunderstanding of the purpose of grade-level standards. People see grade-level standards as a maximum. The truth is the complete opposite.
Moving Around on the Spectrum of Abstraction
When differentiating, it’s helpful to note where on the “spectrum of abstraction” your content lies. Then, see what happens when you move that content to be more abstract or more specific. It often unlocks lots of new opportunities for thinking.
